The Brookhaven leader., 1887-02-17
FAMILY FINANCES.
A Particular In Which Many Otherwise
Good Husbands Err

Good Husbands Err
There are many marriages which are true
unions of ''twain in one flesh" in every
thing except money-matters. There is the
common home, the common name, the COM
mon interest in all other affa rs of daily
life, but there is not q common pocket
book. The husband earns the money. The
wife is pauper; unless she has something
which stands in her own name, which has
come to her, by inheritance or otherwise,
she is regarded as dependent" on her
husband. What she has he gives "
her. She Is a pensioner on his bounty.
Often his thoughtlessness, or something
worse, makes it necessary for her
to become beggar. She Is obliged
to explain and justify her request
for the means to supply her own and the
children's da ly needs. While as for little
comforts and luxuries she does without
them rather than incur the disagreeable
discussion Of their necessity, If she asks
her husband for the money which they
would cost. The happiness of many home
| has been shipwrecked on this rock. And
there is many another in which the wife is
really loved by the husband, who never sus
poets that he is not fair and even generous
/ in all his financial relations to his family,
but in which there would be new and
deeper happiness, and more complete
union, II the same oneness which Is recog-
! niZed in all other matters were extended
to the family finances, and the wife were
allowed to feel that the money is hers as
truly and In the same sense as it is his.
That this latter is the true theory Of the
| financial relation Of husband and wife we
fully believe; and that it is not simply
/ theoretical but also practical aDd practical
BILE, we know from some refreshing exam
pies that have fallen under our observa-
ton In these cases the husband general
! " and naturally has the management Of
the money that is to be invested, as he is
out in the business world, and moro
familiar with the markets and with
men, than the wife. But she is always
consulted She shares with him in in
terest and in knowledge of every hnanc al
operation, and is made to feel that it is her
money that is being invested as we'll as
his; or, rather, that the interest Is neither
hers nor his, but theirs. And for all house
hold expenses there is common fund,
kept always in a given place and drawn
from at will by tho wife for her own needs
and those of the family. She keeps her
own cash account, which the husband is at
liberty to examine at any time, as she Is at
liberty to examine his. The twain are one,
and whatever is earned by either is the
property Of both 1t is always so regarded
in thought, word and deed.
The advantages Of this plan are manifold.
First, it enhances the unity, and so the
sacredness, Of the marriage relation. The
safety of the State and of the very race is
IN the keeping of those who make the
homes Of the land And true home can
only exist where there is a unity of
interest Any thing that breaks into
this unity is dangerous. The husband and
wife are not rival establishments, with
separate business interests; they are
not even different members Of common
commercial firm. They are one Marriage
Is not copar Lnership 1t is a union 1t is
the fusion of two separate and partial in
dividualities into one perfect organism.
That organism has parts or members. But
II zone member suffer, all the members
suffer with it, or if one member be hon
ored, all the members rejoice with it."
When this view of marriage becomes COM
mon, and is carried out in all the details Of
daily life, the divorce courts will be
empty, and society Will be relieved of some
of its greatest dangers. f. II. Palmer,
ku Advance